PTFN
by helljumper36
Summary: "Practice Truth, Fear Nothing!" The sub-motto of the 36th Battalion, 105th Shock Troop Division. At least, it was until they were put on a mission to Acheron/LV426. When they arrive, the ODSTs find a horrible creature, and must find a means to destroy it before it destroys them. Tagline: Feet first...into a hell like none other.
1. Chapter 1

**Characters sheet**

**Hans Dietrich: Corporal, former SPARTAN, ODST**

**Dani: Private, alien, ODST**

**Kearns/Zero: Private, intelligence, ODST**

**Xaantra: Corporal, alien, ODST**

**Jameson: Private, ODST, **

**Harris: Lance-Corporal, ODST, machine gunner**

**Sanderson: Sergeant, ODST**

**Smith: SAC pilot**

**Barro: SAC copilot**

**Janice-689: SPARTAN-II**

**Bob-055: SPARTAN-II**

**Davers: Synthetic, medical officer**

**Lieutenant Commander Stanson: commander of the UNSC John Pershing**

**CHAPTER 1**

UNSC John Pershing, home of the 36th Battalion, 105th Shock Troop Division, 2531

In orbit over Acheron

Corporal Hans Dietrich got up from his cryotube. His squad was waking up around him. Dani, his girfriend, Xaantra, Zero, Harris and Jameson. Their platoon leader, Sergeant Alex Sanderson was already up. "Alright up an at 'em, marines. Another glorious day in the Corps."

They got up walked to their lockers. Xaantra got up on the chin-up bar, her cat-like tail swishing. Dani started to kick her under her tits, while she did the exercise.

Dietrich put on a pair of drawers and and fatigue pants. Harris pulled on t-shirt marked 'Peace through Superior Firepower'. "Another glorious day in the corps. huh?"

"Don't bitch, Harris." Dietrich flexed his augmented muscles. He had tattoos of twin dragons on each arm. He looked around. The chicks still weren't dressed, though that was more so that everyone could get an eyeful of Xaantra's flaming skull Helljumper tat.

They heard the call on the intercom. "ODSTs of Sanderson's platoon, report to the bridge."

The platoon dashed up the stairs. Sanderson was waiting at the door. The sergeant had a hard, angular beauty. Her skin was tanned deeply and she had scars on her right cheek. Seeing her reminded Dietrich of the orange scar over his own left eye.

They entered to see Lieutenant Commander Stanson and a pair of...SPARTANs?

Dietrich recognized them. Janice and Bob. Two of the kids he had went through the program with. They had been kidnapped at six and gone through brutal training. After getting his augmentations, he had escaped with Ralph-033. He wasn't going to be anyone's puppet.

Janice looked with disdain at the rag-tag group. Convicts, aliens, rookies. Dietrich knew they weren't run-of-the-mill soldiers, but they were good. Real good.

Stanson smiled. He was a tall man with black hair and a serious preference. "Relax, marines. Today you have a mission."

He nodded to Janice, who brought up a holographic display. "Acheron. Formerly home to the colony, Hadley's Hope. Until they were killed. But the 'unidentified hostiles' were terminated by an exploding reactor."

Harris raised his hand.

Stanson pointed. "Yes, Dietrich?"

"Harris, sir. He's Dietrich." Harris jerked a thumb towards the corporal. "How do I get out of this chicken-shit outfit?"

Sanderson took the cigarette from her mouth. "Stow that shit, Harris."

Dietrich raised his hand.

"Yes Dietrich?"

"Sir, Janice just said the unidentified hostiles were terminated. Why are we going back?"

"ONI wants us to check it out." Bob nodded his red-haired head. "Since the atmospheric processers were destroyed with the colony, we'll need vacc suits."

Dani yawned. "Whatever. I just need to know when and where." She faked a pistol with her hand. "Pow!"

"Yeah, they said aliens, she thought they said illegal aliens and signed up." Harris joked and punched the female alien on her shoulder.

"Fuck you man." She gave Harris the finger.

They sat at the table in the mess hall. A middle-aged man carried his tray to the table. Jameson stopped him.

"Hey Davers, do that thing with the knife again."

Davers smiled as the marines egged him on. He took the knife that Jameson handed him. Harris snuck behind him and put Jameson's hands together.

"Hey man, what the hell are you doing?" Jameson started to freak out.

Davers put the knife-tip in between Jameson's thumb and index fingers. "Brace yourself."

Davers' hand and the knife were a blur as it moved in between each finger. Jameson screamed. Harris laughed and held his friend's hands together. The others stared, awestruck.

Davers stopped and handed Jameson his knife. "Thank you."

Stanson chuckled as the man sat down at their table. "I thought you never miss, Davers."

Janice looked at the white android fluid trailing down Davers' thumb. "You're a Synthetic?"

"I prefer 'artificial person'."

Bob's jaw dropped. "Nobody said anything about an android."

Stanson looked at the SPARTANs. "Why are you surprised? It's becoming regulation."

Dani leaned over to Dietrich. "Your ex too good to eat with grunts like us?"

Dietrich smiled at his girlfriend's wisecrack. Her turquoise skin was smooth with some leathery patches on the shoulders and knees. She wore her jet black hair in a regulation military haircut. Harris leaned over and made kissing sounds.

Bob took a look at the ODST on the end of the ther table. He had blonde hair cut into a flat-top and buck teeth. "What's your name?"

"Duh, Private Kearns, intelligence." The man's slurred speech made Bob think this was the only place they could put him.

"Or Zero." Harris remarked.

"Duh, don't call me that!" Kearns turned to the rest of the group. Sanderson stood up.

"Pipe down, troopers, or I'll have you on KP duty for a month!"

Harris clicked his tongue. "Aw give 'im a blow-job, why dontya? We're just having fun."

Sanderson clenched her teeth and gripped the man by his collar. "Say it again, wise-ass, and I'll toss you out the airlock!"

Janice looked at the lieutenant. "And you don't do anything about this?"

"Not much I can do." Stanson finished his last bit of food. "They handle themselves."

Janice sighed. This would take a lot of getting used to.

The ODSTs filed into the Specialized Assault Carrier. Smith took the cigarette from her mouth. They had completely filled the weapons locker with equipment. The armor was all set. The SPARTANs were all on board.

Janice was a bit skeptical about the vehicle. "Are you sure this will take us down safely?"

"Look lady, my job is to get you down there. Then, I wait till you guys are done with your stuff." Smith looked out at the launch bay through the cockpit.

The ODSTs assembled outside. Sanderson put her headband on. "Alright, Helljumpers. Feet first into hell once again! And remember: Practice truth-"

"FEAR NOTHING!" The response thundered in her ears.

"Good! Now move out."

They climbed in. Sanderson and Dietrich made their way to the cockpit. Sanderson licked Smith behind the ear. The pilot made a sound like purring. Dietrich turned away. The relationship was no secret, but sometimes it went too far.

The squad buckled in for the drop. Smith switched on the systems and opened the bay doors. Dietrich braced for the freefall.

They fell. Hurtling down at terrific speeds. The squad members whooped and laughed. It was thrilling and terrifying. The rush of adrenaline was essential to get the men started.

They fell. They fell towards the moon. The moon of Acheron.

_End of chapter 1. Chapter 2 coming soon._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Acheron/LV426, SAC Drop Zone, 2531

Dietrich watched Janice, Dani and Harris get suited up. "You guys gonna be alright?"

Dani clapped him on the shoulder. "C'mon Hans. I'm a Helljumper and so is Harris."

Dietrich watched her put on her vacc helmet, sealing the suit. She walked into the airlock, which closed behind her. Janice was wearing a form of MJOLNIR armor. It had canister-like formations on the helmet. "Janice, what model is that?"

"Pioneer armor. It was made for settling new worlds. I thought you weren't a SPARTAN anymore."

Dietrich was shocked by this. "I'm not." Not a puppet, at least. "But that doesn't matter."

He made his way up to the cockpit. Smith and Sanderson turned away from each other as he entered. Barro continued to look at the porno magazine in his hands.

The screens showed the view from Janice, Harris and Dani's helmet recorders. Dietrich picked up a beer from the cooler on the floor. Sanderson keyed the ship's comm. "Dani, report in."

"Well, as you can see, nothing much is happening." The camera view showed a dusty, windy landscape with mountainous regions near the background.

"Wait a minute." The screen began to become clearer. A huge ship sat like it had crash-landed. "Do you see it?"

The ship was shaped like a huge half-ring. It didn't show any signs of being shot at. No wear. Dietrich was suspicious. "What is it?"

"Beats me." Dani's camera started to get fuzzy.

"Dani your camera's getting all wierd and junk." Sanderson wore an earpiece

It went blank. Sanderson sat up in alarm. "Dani, your camera just went offline."

Dietrich watched Janice's camera. "The derelict is wierd. Don't go in there."

"Negative Dietrich." She continued forward. "We'll check it out."

Kearns entered the room. "Duh, what's going on?"

"Kearns, get over here and figure this shit out." Sanderson sat back in her seat.

Dani, Janice and Harris walked into the humungous ship. Dani and Janice held fashlights while Harris carried his M247H. They walked the strange insect-pattern hallways. The trio walked into a huge circular room.

In the middle sat a body. Dani looked at the hole in it's side. "Shot?"

Everyone was riveted to the screen. The rest of the squad had joined the group in the cockpit to hear Janice's comment. "No. The bones are broken outward, see?"

The ribs on the right side of the creature's chest were indeed pointed outwards. Dani shrugged. "Let's keep moving."

Janice nodded and climbed off the seat. They continued through one of the doorways. Dani shown her light down.

"Duh, it's not the computers." Kearns stood up. "Something's wrong with her helmet."

"Thanks Zero." Dietrich took another sip of his beer.

"Duh, don't call me that."

"Dietrich, stop it." Sanderson looked bckwards.

Dani looked down at the drop off. "It looks like it drops off about 30 feet here. Harris, tie some cord around me. I'm going down."

Harris' camera showed him wrapping the heavy rope around her waist and hold it firmly. "Alright, you're all set Dani."

She started to climb down the drop-off. "It's hot as hell down here."

Dietrich smiled. That's my girl.

"Some kinda misty veil." She continued to descend. "Covering..."

Dani stepped onto a beam and shown her flashlight over it. "Eggs of some sort. Oval, pod-like eggs."

She slipped. Harris' grip on the rope tightened. "Dani, you alright?"

Dani got up. "I'm fine. Just slipped." She swung the light over the eggs. They became transparent. Inside, something was moving, struggling to get out. "Um, they hold organic life."

Harris still held onto the rope. "Dani, you should get out of there."

"Relax Harris. If anything comes out, it'll be a baby. How much harm can a baby do?"

A lot, thought Dietrich. "Dani, Harris is right. You should get out of there."

"Don't be such a crybaby, Hans. I just want a look." Dani knelt near one of the eggs. It's top opened, like a flower blossoming.

"It's opening."

Her camera was still blank. Harris' camera showed a misty veil with the tops of these 'eggs'. Dani wasn't to be seen.

Dani looked inside. Something throbbed and poked at a moist, pink bubble-like covering on the inside. "Something's moving."

Long, spindly legs climbed over the edge. She got off her knees and started to back off. With a screech and a flash of tan, she fell to the ground, unconcious.

Everyone heard the screech. Harris' voice came over the intercom. "Um, we have a problem."

Harris and Janice stepped into the airlock, carrying Dani. "Smith, let us in!"

Smith shook her head. "You know the rules Harris. 24 hour-quarantine for decontamination."

"Goddammit, Smith. Sarge, tell your girlfriend to let us in."

Sanderson keyed her earpiece. "Negative Harris. Just have to trust your luck."

Janice shouted into her comm. "Bob, let us in. That's a direct order!"

Bob looked around at the others in the cockpit. "I can't just leave her out there! She's my commander!"

"Buddy, if you walk out of here, you're confined to quarters." Sanderson pointed at the SPARTAN.

"Tehnically sergeant, she's the superior officer here." With that, Bob ran out to the airlock.

"Dietrich!" Sanderson pointed the man in the way of the SPARTAN. Dietrich took of after Bob.

Dietrich dashed down the hall. Bob was extremely fast. But not fast enough. Dietrich tackled him. Bob kicked him in the face and jumped up. The airlock door was just up ahead.

Dietrich got up and saw Bob push the button. "No!"

Harris and Janice carried Dani in. A skeletal spider-like creature was affixed to her face. "What the hell is that?"

"No idea. Take her to the infirmary."

Harris and Janice opened the door to the med bay. They set Dani on the table. "Davers, come look at this."

Davers looked at the creature. "Wow."

"Can we get it off?"

"We can try."

They got the laser cutter. Davers turned it on and touched it to the creature's leg. An amount of dull green blood spilled out. It hissed and made a hole in the floor.

"Shit, that's going right to the hull!" Dietrich, Harris and Jameson dashed out, running down stairs to the floor beneath. The acid had aready gotten to the next floor. "Go!"

They started to run down to other floor. It went straight through that too. Dietrich cleared several stairs and go to it. The acid had stopped. It just hung in that hole. "Jameson, hand me a pen or something."

Jameson gave Dietrich a pencil from his pocket. Dietrich put it against the edge of the hole. It hissed and smoked. The pencil was only slightly burnt. "Yep. It's stopped."

Mess Hall

Sanderson was laid back on a reclining chair. Jameson was sitting above Xaantra, on the counter. The rest were spread out around a circular table.

"We can't just leave her up and at 'em." Xaantra was playing with a spoon.

"I say if she's got a disease, ice her and then let the docs take care of her back home." Jameson looked around. Everyone nodded in agreement.

Davers' voice came over the intercom. "Sergeant, Corporal, I think you should see this.

They made their way to the Infirmary. "What is it Davers?" Sanderson took a look at Dani's face. "Oh shit."

The creature had come off somehow. Davers had it under a microscope. "Interesting."

"Is she alright?" Janice had a bit of concern in her voice.

"As soon as she wakes up, yes." Davers looked up. "This creature has a strange physiology. We all saw the acid for blood, but it also has a probiscus that it threads into it's victim's throat."

Dietrich looked at his girlfriend lying there. Nothing had physically happened. Except for a few scratches wear it had gripped her face.

"Until she wakes up, I will continue scanning her for anything wrong." Davers looked at the creature. "But at that moment, Sergeant, I want permission to go into that ship and study these."

Sanderson looked at the android. "Permission granted, Davers. But, don't bring anything back."

"Ma'am, if these things are attacking humans, I cannot bring one back. That would be against mission parameters and my programming."

The group made their way back to the cockpit. Smith and Barro were monitoring the ship. "Nothing's comin' out of it."

"Doesn't mean nothing's there." Dietrich's training taught him that much.

"Something had to have laid those eggs." Harris grabbed a beer. "And sure as hell wasn't a chicken."

Damned right. Dietrich didn't like an unknown enemy. No ODST did. And the enemy here sure wasn't the Covenant.

_End of Chapter 2. Chapter 3 coming soon._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

SAC Drop Zone, Acheron/LV426

Davers looked at the image on the screen. It was bundled into a tight little swirl. "My God!"

Dani opened her eyes. "Davers? Why am I in the medical bay?"

The android lifted the intercom. "Sergeant, you should come see this."

The ODSTs and SPARTANs walked into the room. "Hey, Dani!"

She smiled. Davers looked her over. "Do you remember anything?"

"Just a terrible dream about smothering."

"How do you feel?"

"Terrrible." Dani took a huge swallow from the cup of water. "My throat hurts and I'm hungry."

"Yeah, me too," said Jameson, who was in fact, eating a bowl of Ramen noodles.

They started to walk out. Davers stopped Dani. "Dani, you're going to die."

"What're you psychic now?" Janice clapped the android on the back. "C'mon, the girl's had her beauty sleep."

They walked out. Davers went to the airlock. If noone would listen to him, he would get proof. Dani had approximately three hours left. That was long enough. "Sergeant, I'm going out now. I'll be back in three hours."

"Roger Davers. We'll come get you if anythin happens."

Around three hours later

They had eaten and were now sitting around, hanging out. Dani must have been really hungry because even now, she was reaching for another french fry.

Jameson and Harris were telling each other sexual jokes. Barro was flipping through another magazine. Kearns was jury-rigging something. Janice just sat, patiently. Xaantra was talking to Dani about celebrities. Bob looked at a newspaper. Sanderson and Smith kissed.

Typical 36th Battalion behavior.

Dietrich was cleaning an MA5B. They had to be prepared.

Dani was smiling and perfect. As always. So maybe Davers was wrong.

She put another fry in her mouth. Her face turned red. Xaantra got up and clapped her on the back. Nothing happened. Dani screamed and convulsed. She fell with her back on the table.

Still screaming, she arched her back up. Everyone had crowded around by now. Stuff fell off the table. She stopped for a second, hyperventilating. Then it started again. She shook. Her body thrashed around. Blood spread across her t-shirt. Dani screamed again as her chest bulged and the fabric broke.

A worm-like creature screeched into the air. Jameson raised his knife but Sanderson restrained him and Janice pulled them away.

It gave another screech and slid across the table, disappearing into a hall.

Davers walked in. "Oh hell."

He kneeled next to the body. "You guys saw it then?"

Dietrich and Sanderson nodded.

"Where is it?"

Harris jerked a thumb in the direction it went.

"You mean you didn't kill it?"

Janice nodded.

Davers sighed. He pointed to Dietrich and Harris. "Get to the armory. Issue all weapons."

"Davers, it's a little-ass bitch." Smith shrugged. "We can take it."

"No you can't." Davers looked up. "I found out what I feared. There is Xenomorphs here."

"Xeno-what?"

"I'll explain later. Just get the weapons."

Dietrich handed Davers the MA5B he had been cleaning. "There's one. Seems like you're the only one who knows what to do with it."

Harris and Dietrich walked to the armory. They started grabbing weapons. Assault rifles, Battle rifles, Harris' M247, Magnums, shotguns, knifes.

Dietrich pointed to the knife Harris put in his belt. "What the hell are you gong to use that for? It has acid blood."

"Better safe than sorry. Besides, if I get that close to it, I'm probably dead."

Dietrich took in these words and holstered a magnum. "Maybe. We gotta look out for each other."

They took the weapons up to the mess hall and started handing them out. Sanderson looked at Dietrich and Davers. "You two, go out to that ship. Dietrich, find out about these Xeno-whatevers. Davers, you identify them for him."

"The rest of you, spread out and find the little sonuvabitch. I'll be in the cockpit, monitoring Dietrich and Davers."

Dietrich suited up and looked at Davers, who was simply dressed in his lab clothes. "You ain't suiting up?"

"Negative, Dietrich. I'll be fine. They can't infest me."

The ODST stepped into the airlock. "Well, come on."

They stepped onto the airless planet. Dietrich felt the wind whipping around him. "Where'd you find these things."

"I assure you, I have nothing to do with Dani being impregnated with the Chestburster."

"Chestburster?"

"That's what the larval form is called." Davers' hair whipped around in the intense wind. "The ones coming out of the eggs are Facehuggers."

"Cute." Dietrich walked with the stiffness of the vacc suit. Davers, however didn't have that problem, as he wasn't wearing one. "But how do they survive? There's no air here and you said you found some."

"Yes, that's right."

"So they're like parasites?"

"Yes."

They were silent for a moment. Then, they entered the ship. It was huge on the inside, like they had seen from Dani's helmet cam. The room with the body was there. The doorway leading to the eggs was blocked off with red tape. Davers, no doubt. The android led Dietrich into another passage. "This way."

Dietrich's breath left him as he saw what had happened.

Hundreds of the pods were open. Human bodies hung on the walls, holes through their chests. Dietrich looked at the fabirc on one's shirt. It was marked USCM. "Hey, this guy was a marine. Like us."

"Sanderson, are you getting this?"

"Copy, corporal."

Nobody was left alive. Yet, Dietrich's motion tracker went off. "What the hell is going on?"

Davers put a finger to his lips and pointed to the ceiling.

Groups of black, insect-like forms were crawling above them. Dietrich shouted, pulled Davers behind him and fired upwards. They screeched and dropped down.

"Go!" Davers ran out, with Dietrich covering him. They were at least killable. He brought down another. And another.

"Dietrich, get out of there!" Sanderson's voice came over his helmet comm. Dietrich ran backwards, spraying the bugs with lead.

Davers unslung his MA5B and shot to cover the corporal. "Dietrich, move!"

They ran backwards to the airlock. The Xenomorphs stopped and screeched into the air. Davers cursed. "Now they know where we are!"

Sanderson ran in. She was wearing back-and-breast armor and held an M7. "You guys alright?"

Dietrich threw her a sloppy salute. "Thanks to Davers, yes."

They walked into the cockpit. Everyone was gathered there. Except Barro.

Smith wiped tears from her eyes. "It was horrible."

Jameson looked up. "It grew. Way bigger. Barro got ripped to shreds."

Harris held his M247H. "Head gone, body mutilated."

Davers grabbed a few extra cips from the table. "That's not important right now. They followed us. We have to get ready for attack."

Smith got up and slapped the android across his face. White fluid spilled out. "Maybe it doesn't matter to you, but he was one of us. I'm willing to bet, you wanted Dani infested."

Dietrich clapped him on the shoulder. "Without Davers, we'd all be dead by now."

Jameson twirled a knife in his hands. "Why don't we just leave and nuke it from orbit?"

"No." Everyone looked at Janice. "We have to take them out down here."

"Yeah right, fuck that man." Harris hefted his gun. "Unless you didn't see that thing, it was _huge_! Now imagine a hundred of those."

Sanderson gripped his collar. "Are you done?" She let go of the machine gunner. "How many are there, Davers?"

He sighed. "Easily a thousand."

"Jesus!" Harris was panicing. "I'm no going out there!"

"If we don't, they'll come in here!" Dietrich was shouting into Harris' face. "And then we'll all end up like Dani and Barro! _Dead!_"

Smith picked up her weapon. "Well, I ain't gonna die today!" She held out her hand. "Sanderson?"

The sergeant looked around and took hold. "I'm with you."

Jameson walked over. Xaantra, Kearns and Harris walked over together. Janice and Bob came over last.

They climbed into their suits and stepped out the airlock.

_End of Chapter 3. Chapter 4 coming soon_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Derelict Ship, Acheron/LV426

Dietrich walked into the ship. The Xenos weren't there at the moment. He waved them forward. Davers took up the lead, next to Bob on point. "This way."

They split into pairs. Bob and Jameson, Janice and Harris, Davers and Smith, Sanderson and Kearns and Dietrich and Xaantra. Everyone went into a doorway.

Dietrich looked at Xaantra's weapon. An M90 shotgun. A poor choice of weaponry. The idea of a shotgun was to get up close and splatter your enemy's guts. Pretty fucking hard to do when your enemy's blood is acid.

The walls were lined with a resin. The same stuff those humans had been stuck in. He had a feeling that this would be a cluster-fuck.

Dietrich hed up his fist. His motion tracker was covered in blips. They heard screams over the comm. "What the hell is happening?"

Sanderson radioed. "Dietrich?"

"I'm good."

"Smith?"

"Beautiful, baby girl."

"Davers?"

"Fine."

"Xaantra?"

"Never better."

"Harris?"

"Maybe I shit my pants."

"Kearns?"

"Duh, I'm okay."

"Janice?"

"Roger."

"Bob?"

"Shit! They took Jameson! He's dead!"

"No he's not. His vitals are still up." Davers sounded concerned. "They're cocooning him."

"Shit man!" Harris started to freak out again. "That's it, we're-"

"Harris!"

Dietrich and Xaantra continued. Nothing was here, it seemed. Then, shooting came over the comm. Harris was cursing fluently. Smith screamed. Bob shouted for help before his vitals flatlined. They could still see Jameson's vitals even though they were low.

A Xenomorph dropped down in front of them. Xaantra shot it with the shotgun and narrowly dodged a bit of acid.

Kearns and Sanderson came running into them. "Holy shit!"

The four stopped and caught their breath. Sanderson gave them the once-over.

"They took Smith. Janice and Harris have disappeared somewhere. Davers is missing. I guess we're it."

"Duh, why did Janice want us to come in here instead of nuking the bastards from orbit?" Kearns pointed out.

"Yeah, why?" Sanderson looked at Dietrrich. "What's she up to?"

Dietrich pondered this. "Of course! ! The ONI Bio-Weapons division! They want some specimens. So they sent their pet messengers to get us infested and thrown in cryo!"

Sanderson looked around. "Okay. We find Davers and Smith, rescue Harris and get the hell outta here."

They nodded in agreement.

Janice and Harris fired their weapons into the mass of enemies. Janice had turned off their comms. She knew the machine gunner wouldn't hold out much longer and she could escape with the Xenomorph in the SAC. She heard the footsteps of a marine.

She turned and saw Davers run in. Janice fired at the android. The bullet made a hole in his side. He fired back. Harris turned.

"Hey what the-"

A Xenomorph grabbed him and started dragging him. Harris screamed. Davers got up to shoot but the marine had disappeared into the mass of darkness.

Janice pointed her pistol at Davers. "Goodbye, android."

She felt herself get hit on the head. Dietrich stood over her. "Your gel layer didn't take that impact."

He helped Davers up. "Might wanna patch that up." Dietrich indicated the hole in his side.

Davers slapped a pieceof duck-tape on it. "That should hold."

He looked at the ODSTs. Their armor had been dented in fighting through the Xenomorphs. "Harris?"

''Gone. Saw his body."

"Damn."

Sanderson waved them forward. "We still have Smith to find."

They walked through the resin coated hallways. Xaantra saw Jameson, the Facehugger tightened it's tail around his neck. "Jesus."

Dietrich led her away. "Come on. He's as good as dead now."

The survivors made their way with Davers' directions. "She's over here. And still alive."

Sanderson looked at her partner, stuck upon the wall with the resin. "Smith?"

Davers took a torch from his pocket and began to cut her loose. He scanned her. "Are you alright?"

"My throat and chest hurt but I'm fine." Smith picked up her SMG from the ground. "Let's go."

"No."

Everyone looked at Davers. "She has one inside her. We have to leave her."

Sanderson crossed her arms. "Then I stay. This is where I put my foot down. I've sacrificed too much already."

Dietrich lifted his rifle. "Work this out! We don't have much time."

"Look, we can't risk the human race for a love-life!" Davers shouted at the sergeant.

"You don't have too! We can cut it out of her."

"No. It won't work. She'll die anyway!"

Dietrich put his hand between them. "We take her! There, we're finished!"

_End of Chapter 4. Chapter 5 coming soon._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Unknown Derelict ship, Acheron/LV426

Dietrich took point as the survivors attempted to manuever the nest. Smith held on to Sanderson. Davers was behind Dietrich while Kearns and Xaantra made up the rear.

He heard the screeches of the Xenomorphs. Many of them. Shit was about to get real.

They came, rushing through the doorways. The group fired, spilling acid blood over the walls and floor. The distinctive sound of an MA5B filled the chamber. The group made it to the huge circular room. Smith coughed and slid off Sanderson's shoulder. "Go on without me."

Sanderson shook her head and offered the pilot her hand. "I'm not leaving you."

Smith ripped off her dogtags and pressed them into her girlfriend's hand. "Take these to my mom and dad. Tell them I ain't sorry for being a lesbo."

Sanderson's eyes filled with tears. "But..."

"It's inside me. I can feel it, it wants to get out." Smith looked into Sanderson's faceplate. "It's either this or kill me."

The marines hugged and seperated. Smith stood up and turned to face the aliens. "Alright motherfuckers, your sister's right here!" She pounded her chestplate. "Now come get her!"

Davers hustled them out. "Jameson's vitals are gone."

Dietrich hung his head in defeat. "Damn."

Kearns sniffed. "Well, might as well get out of here while we still can."

They made a run for the exit. Smith sprayed the bugs with lead. "That's right assholes, come and get her!"

She exchanged clips and emptied the next magazine. Tossing the sub-machine gun into the horde, she drew her magnum. She fired the seven shots. Seven Xenos dead.

A sharp pain came through her chest. "I suppose she does want to come to get you." Smith whipped out her combat knife and jumped onto an alien. She stabbed it and twisted it's neck.

Her ribs broke outwards. It bulged in her chest and tore through the armor. Smith looked down at the blood gushing out of her armor. "Just...one thing...left..."

She stripped a grenade from her harness. "...to do!"

The metal sphere clanked on the ground as she died. A group stopped to watch their sister wrigle it's way out of the human.

It was their last descision.

The survivors entered the airlock. They stripped off their helmets and walked inside, intenet on reaching the cockpit. Getting there, Dietrich knocked on the door.

Janice opened it, and pointed a pistol at Dietrich's forehead. "Good to see you made it."

Kearns scratched his head. "Duh, is this some stupid prank?"

"No Zero." Dietrich shrugged out of his vacc suit. "Mind if we come in?"

Janice waved them in. "I will get a specimen to ONI. In fact, one's already on board."

Dietrich slapped his head. "Dani's little bastard. You guys never destroyed it, did you?"

Sanderson shook her head.

Jance's lips puled back in a feral smile. "They never got a chance. And you won't, either." She lifted the M6G and put her finger on the trigger. "Sayonora."

Dietrich moved fast. He dove for her legs, knocking her to the ground. The pistol went off harmlessly. He grabbed it and pointed to their weapons. "Now!"

They ran out of the room and to the armory. They started donning their body suits when Dietrich saw something.

It was a set of MJOLNIR armor. It had an ODST helmet with Security variant shoulder pads and a CQB chestplate. He carried it to the armor fitter and stepped in.

He felt it slip onto his body. It felt movement and thoughts synchronized. He picked up an MA5B. "Let's go."

Davers had strapped an NA4 flamethrower on his back. Sanderson had an M392 DMR. Kearns had an M7 and Xaantra held another assault rifle. They padded queitly up to the next deck. Kearns looked down. "Hey Dietrich, isn't this that resin stuff?"

Dietrich looked at the trail of slimey substance leading into a room. He stalked quietly into it. Eggs, like the ones they had seen in the derelict ship were all over. But at the center...

At the center sat a huge alien with a gigantic crest and four arms. It's tail swished back and forth, the blade itself the size of an HMG. Davers came up behind him. "A Queen."

The Queen started to hiss and growl. Davers lifted his flamethrower and torched some eggs. The Queen screeched. They began to fire at her.

Diving, rolloing, anything to advoid that tail. She tore herself off the egg-laying sack. Dietrich lobbed several grenades at it. It blew, spraying liquid everywhere. Sanderson let out a war cry and fired right at it's ugly face. It growled again and spat acid at them. Dietrich lept up and over the stream.

Davers continued to torch eggs. The Queen turned on the android. He flipped around and opened up on it's face. The napalm scorched it's crest. Kearns knocked Davers out of the way. The huge tail speared the intelligence specialist. Blood spurted out.

Sanderson tossed a grenade into it's mouth. "Get out! It's HE!"

They dived out as the grenade detonated and sprayed acid out. Davers got up and torched the remains of the room.

Sanderson got up. "We did it."

Davers nodded. "Yes."

Xaantra looked around. "Well, let's get out of here."

Dietrich walked away. "Hold on. I gotta do something."

Sanderson sat down in the pilot's chair. She began to cry. Davers patted her on the back. "You did good sergaent."

"You too, 'artificial person'." She smiled through her tears.

Dietrich came back. "Alright, let's go."

Xaantra buckled in next to him. "What did you do?"

"Janice wanted a specimen, right?"

Janice woke up. She took a look around. Eggs. Hundreds of them. She looked at the extra vacc suit next to her. "Oh shit."

The eggs started to open. Janice cowered in fear. The Facehugger crawled over the edge and lept, grabbing onto her faceplate. The acid hissed as it broke the helmet. She screamed and tried to rip it off only to burn the gloves on her hands.

Her specimen had arrived.

UNSC John Pershing, in orbit over Acheron

Stanson looked at the docking SAC. The door hissed open and four figures stepped out. The lieutenant ran to them. "Where are the others?"

Dietrich removed his helmet. "Dead. Or about to die."

Then he walked away.

And noone in his squad ever saw him again.

_End of Chapter 5. Epilouge coming soon._


	6. Epilouge

**Epilouge**

New York City, 2553, one year after the end of the Human-Covenant war.

Sanderson knocked on the apartment door. A large middle-aged woman opened it. "Yes?"

"Is this the home of Maria Smith, UNSC Marine Corps?"

"Yeah, why?"

An older man came to the open door. Sanderson placed Smith's dogtags in the woman's hands. "She says she's not sorry."

The woman looked at the pieces of metal. "Our letter said MIA. So you knew her?"

Sanderson gave a sad smile. "Yes. I was her girlfriend."

She turned and walked to the elevator. A man in a leather jacket and sunglasses, carrying a briefcase stood there also. "Military, ma'am?"

Sanderson looked at the stripes on her arm. "Yeah. Was. Now I run a coffee shop in Los Angeles."

"And you came all the way over here to hand that pair of assholes their daughter's dog-tags?"

She smiled through her tears. They stepped into the elevator. "Well, she asked me to before she died."

"You're a good person, sarge."

They walked out to the parking lot. The man went to a blue Jeep. "See you around, sometime, sarge?"

"I don't know. Where you hangin'?"

The man smiled and lifted his hands. "Everywhere. I'll see you."

"Yeah." Sanderson got into the rental Corvette. Something about that guy was familiar.

Dietrich smiled and got into his Jeep.

**The End**


End file.
